The Influence of Regulatory T cells on the response to the Measles and DTP vaccines in Gambian infants

Event Abstract Back to Event The Influence of Regulatory T cells on the response to the Measles and DTP vaccines in Gambian infants Jorjoh Ndure1*, Fatou Noho-Konteh1, Jane Adetifa1, Sarah Rowland-Jones2, Ed Clarke1, Jayne Sutherland1, Hilton Whittle1, Magdalena Plebanski3, Martin Ota1 and Katie L. Flanagan1, 3 1 Vaccinology Theme, Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia, Gambia 2 University of Oxford, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, United Kingdom 3 Monash University, Department of Immunology, Australia Despite the key role of Regulatory T cells (Tregs) in regulating immune responses to infections, very few studies have reported on their role in controlling the immunogenicity of vaccines in infants. It is still not clear if pre-existing Tregs interfere with the generation of vaccine-induced immunity, and whether they are induced following vaccination in infants. Using a dataset from a randomized trial of 9 month-old infants vaccinated with either measles vaccine (MV) alone, MV + DTwP (diptheria, tetanus, whole cell pertussis combined vaccine) or DTwP alone, Treg frequencies were examined. The influence of baseline Tregs on antibody levels to Measles and DTP antigens and the production of both regulatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines following overnight stimulation with vaccine specific and non-specific antigens were evaluated. We observed a weak negative correlation between circulating Tregs and measles antibody levels (r2 = -0.2077; p=0.0482); but not with response to the DTP antigens. Following overnight stimulation with tetanus toxoid (TT) antigen, there was a weak yet significant inverse correlation between the Treg frequencies and production of IL-4, IL10 and TNFα (r-value?? p<0.001). We also found a significant decline in Treg frequencies in all donors by 19 months of age (p<0.001). These data suggest that Tregs may play a role in controlling the immunogenicity of vaccines in infants. The influence of pre-existing Tregs on the MV response may differ from that of DTP. These findings provide useful background data for further studies looking to improve vaccine immunogenicity in infants. Acknowledgements EDCTP Grant # CT.2006.33111.002; RIVM in the Netherlands, Jainaba Njie-Jobe and Lady Chilel Sanyang; Sukuta Health Centre, Fatoumatta Darboe, Momodou Cox, Infant Immunology Laboratory team, Ebrima Touray and all the nurses/fieldworkers; study infants and their mothers. Keywords: regulatory T cells, Tregs, Measles Vaccine, DTP, infants, vaccine response, Pro-inflammatory cytokines Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Adaptive Immunity Citation: Ndure J, Noho-Konteh F, Adetifa J, Rowland-Jones S, Clarke E, Sutherland J, Whittle H, Plebanski M, Ota M and Flanagan KL (2013). The Influence of Regulatory T cells on the response to the Measles and DTP vaccines in Gambian infants. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00489 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 Apr 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Ms. Jorjoh Ndure, Vaccinology Theme, Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia, BJL, Gambia, jorjoh@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jorjoh Ndure Fatou Noho-Konteh Jane Adetifa Sarah Rowland-Jones Ed Clarke Jayne Sutherland Hilton Whittle Magdalena Plebanski Martin Ota Katie L Flanagan Google Jorjoh Ndure Fatou Noho-Konteh Jane Adetifa Sarah Rowland-Jones Ed Clarke Jayne Sutherland Hilton Whittle Magdalena Plebanski Martin Ota Katie L Flanagan Google Scholar Jorjoh Ndure Fatou Noho-Konteh Jane Adetifa Sarah Rowland-Jones Ed Clarke Jayne Sutherland Hilton Whittle Magdalena Plebanski Martin Ota Katie L Flanagan PubMed Jorjoh Ndure Fatou Noho-Konteh Jane Adetifa Sarah Rowland-Jones Ed Clarke Jayne Sutherland Hilton Whittle Magdalena Plebanski Martin Ota Katie L Flanagan Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.